BMC tackles surgeon shortage

With the civic peripheral hospitals facing a staff crunch, especially specialist doctors, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to decentralise the surgeons from its major hospitals to mitigate the crisis.

With the civic peripheral hospitals facing a staff crunch, especially specialist doctors, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to decentralise the surgeons from its major hospitals to mitigate the crisis.

The civic body plans ask some of its surgeons from the three major hospitals — KEM, Nair and Sion — will be asked to visit peripheral hospitals also.

There are 16 peripheral hospitals in the city. “The peripheral hospitals are facing crunch of surgeons we intend to take up a pilot project in which surgeons would go to these hospitals to handle critical cases,” said additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar.

She admitted that there was other staff crunch and that the BMC was trying to fill those posts. The BMC will start the pilot project this Diwali at Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi. “We are yet to decide how many surgeons would go the hospital and how often. Their time and schedules will have to be worked out,” said Mhaiskar.